Alex Hawke Urges Mitchell Residents to be beware of PHONE SCAMS

Wednesday, 29 January 2014

Alex Hawke MP, Federal Member for Mitchell, is asking all people to be alert to a recent spate of phone scams across the Hills community.

“My office has been contacted by a number of elderly members of our community who have been the subject of recent phone scams,

“I am urging everyone to be alert to these scams and remind people not to give their account details to anyone over the phone” Alex Hawke said.

The most recent spate of phone scams is from individuals purporting to be from Federal Government agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and major corporations such as Telstra. These individuals state that they are offering Government approved payments and that bank account details are required to complete the payment.

“It is particularly offensive that these scams are focussed on very elderly members of our community. I encourage everyone who suspects they may have been the subject of one of these phone scams to tell someone, whether it is a family member, a friend or by reporting the occurrence online to SCAMwatch.” Alex Hawke said.

SCAMwatch is a website run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). SCAMwatch provides information to consumers and small businesses about how to recognise, avoid and report scams.

You can report a suspected scam online at www.scamwatch.gov.au or by calling the SCAMwatch ACCC Infocentre on 1300 795 995.